Facing the Facts
by The Melon Lord Approves
Summary: Eska had not thought she was such an accomplished liar until now...


**Title:** Facing the Facts  
**Author:** Melon  
**Rating:** K+  
**Summary:** Eska had not thought she was an accomplished liar until recently.

**A/N:** I have recently been accepted as part of the be-the-peaf writing community for LoK/AtLA on Tumblr. This is my first submission, for the 33rd prompt the group has written for: "acceptance."

* * *

It hit her at a pro-bending match, of all places. Surrounded by thousands of complete strangers (the vast majority of them buffoons), disregarding the reek of sweat that filled the arena, and making absolutely no effort to feign even the slightest interest in the action in the ring, the princess of the Northern Water Tribe experienced an epiphany.

The truth was that Eska did not and had never had any particular use for people. She was more or less unconcerned with them. People reached out to others for companionship, for affection and love, or to gain something material they could not get otherwise. Eska lacked none of these things. She had Desna, her other half, her me-not-me, and they were complete in and of themselves. Why should she- why should _they_- bother with anyone else? Their material needs were provided for, and even if they were to find themselves bereft of the comforts with which they had been surrounded, they were extremely capable in their own right and would not lack for the necessities of life. They could not lack for companionship, for they had each other. And as for love, as far as Eska was concerned there was no need for the affection of others, because she already had unconditional love and acceptance.

It was more than she could expect from anyone else.

Bolin made things… complicated. It started out innocently. No, that word was imprecise: there was nothing innocent about it. She was humoring the earthbender's infatuation. His company proved amusing, and she enjoyed the entertainment. Using people was a way of life, and Bolin was no exception.

At least, he was at first.

When exactly that had changed required some thought. Pondering it, she supposed the shift had begun innocuously enough some four months ago, and it was all Desna's fault. For a time, he had indulged her interest in the orphan boy. After a month or two, though, he began to lose interest in their latest toy and gradually stopped accompanying them on their outings.

Yes, the more she thought about it, the more she was sure that that was where it had begun. Things had slipped little by little from there. The thing was, Desna had always been better at handling people than she would ever be, and he was usually the one to guide her through necessary social interactions. Without him around, she wasn't as sure of herself. She found herself saying things to Bolin that ordinarily would have been for Desna's ears only. She didn't really think about it; she just spoke freely. Ordinarily she guarded her tongue around everyone but her brother, but Bolin was… perhaps the word she was looking for was _attentive_. He had no sense of grace and very little of tact, but that painful earnestness of his character invited openness.

It was strange. It had all happened so slowly that she hadn't even realized it. Little things fell into place to pave the way for this unfortunate epiphany she was currently having, tiny little snowballs rolling downhill before an avalanche. He stopped trying to give her flowers (he'd figured out she hated them). She was conflicted when presented with a choice between Desna's company and Bolin's (though in her defense, she hadn't recognized the slight emotional discomfort for what it was at the time). Nothing significant, really. Just little shifts that stacked up to something much larger.

When Desna asked what she was doing, asked why she continued to meet with such an uncultured nobody, she told him she was still amused by her new bauble and wasn't quite ready to give him up just yet. She _meant_ it, too, and she ignored Desna's skeptical raised eyebrow.

But it appeared that she had, for the first time in her life, deceived her twin. More interestingly, she had deceived _herself_. Eska hadn't thought she was such an accomplished liar until recently. It really took some work to pull one over on either child of Unalaq, but both? Well… that was rather impressive.

She wasn't sure how long the deception would have gone on if she hadn't been coerced into coming here, to this utter cesspit where culture came to die and boorish, dimwitted seaslugs cheered on a sport that was, frankly, too pathetic even to be considered an insult to the high art of bending. Under normal circumstances she would never, _never_ be caught dead in such a venue. It was not, as Bolin would have said, her scene.

So why was she here? Bolin had asked her to watch him play. It was a shame he was so enamored of the game, because he was far too good for this place. But he had asked her to come and so she was here.

As Bolin entered the ring, he looked out at the crowd, waving bravely despite the booing for what she was told was the worst team in the league. His eyes caught hers, and his strained smile instantly brightened, just from looking at her.

When her pulse quickened in what she considered to be a ridiculous response to such insignificant stimulus, Eska realized that it was time for her to accept it: Bolin wasn't her plaything. He was her boyfriend.

And, great spirits help her, she _liked_ him!


End file.
